


FFVII Folk Tales: The Changeling

by ixieko



Series: FFVII Folk Tales [8]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Folklore, Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 09:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5623138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ixieko/pseuds/ixieko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, when Churindari was green and warm, in a tribe that lived in tundra to the west of the river Surinda lived a boy named Kumikan, a very, very naughty child...</p>
            </blockquote>





	FFVII Folk Tales: The Changeling

Once upon a time, when Churindari was green and warm, in a tribe that lived in tundra to the west of the river Surinda lived a boy named Kumikan, a very, very naughty child. Whatever his parents told him, he did the opposite.  
"Don't eat so much honey, or your will get sick," His mother Ayama said once, and he went and ate all the honey, and his stomach hurt so much he thought he was dying.  
"Don't throw stones around, or you will hurt someone," His father said, and the boy began to throw stones in all directions, and hit the chieftain in the brow, and was punished for that.  
"Don't tease dogs, or they will bite you," His older sisters said, and he went and shouted at dogs, and teased them, and hit one with a stick, and they bitten him.

Another boy would know then that he should listen to what smart people say, but not Kumikan. By the age of eight, all his peers already got their youth names, only he was still called by a child name, for he was not able to pass the trial of responsibility. He was behaving like a small, spoiled child, and no one trusted him with any task, because he always abandoned his work and ran away to play. His father said that the boy had nothing but air in his head, and his mother Ayama was afraid that he will never become a good man, or a man at all.

One day, an old shaman, who was travelling on foot from the far northern shores, came to their village and told them, "Don't let your children go to the northern mountains. An ycher-asi (witch - M.) has dwelt there, she will catch them and bake them in her stove."  
The chieftain then asked the shaman to call spirits of forest and tundra to protect the village, for everyone knows that the ycher-asi can come at night and steal babies, if the spirits don't chase her off. All children were afraid of an evil ycher-asi, all listened to their parents and didn't leave the village by themselves, only with adults. All, except for Kumikan. He thought his life was too boring, and decided to go and defeat the ycher-asi and become a hero. So he took his father's spear, and his mother's knife, and went to the northern mountains.  
Long or short was his travel, but he reached the mountains and went up their slopes. Day passed, night passed, and the next day came, Kumikan ate all his dried bread and dried fish and drank all his water, but didn't find the ycher-asi. He turned back to his home, but no matter how long he went, the mountains weren't ending. The boy then knew that he was lost, and sat on the big stone, and cried.

"Why are you crying, little boy?" Someone asked, and Kumikan looked and saw an old woman with silver-white hair. For a moment, he was afraid that she was the ycher-asi, and wanted to run, but then she smiled at him, and he thought that she was just a grandma hermit who lived in the mountains.  
"I'm lost," He said, sobbing. "I can't find the way back home."  
"Don't cry, good boy," She said. "Let's go to my hut, I'll feed you and make bed for you. You must be very tired, aren't you?"  
Kumikan saw that woman's eyes briefly turned red, but he felt so tired he almost dropped from the boulder. So he let the old woman lead him to her hut. There he ate all the chupa (Whole-wheat porridge with herbs and smocked fish. - M.) she gave him, though the herbs in it smelled strange, and drank the tea she made. After the meal he felt very, very tired and fell asleep before his head hit the saktavoon (sleeping mat - M.), and went into so deep sleep that nothing could wake him from it.

While he slept, the ycher-asi, - for, of course, the woman was the evil ycher-asi, - took his heart out of his chest and threw it in the fireplace. Then she took a foul-smelling potion, and added the boy's blood into it, and drank the liquid, and in the same moment her body began to shrink down and down until it was small enough to fit in Kumikan's chest. She climbed into it, and closed bone and flesh behind her, and made it look like nothing happened. Kumikan's body sat up and stood up, but it wasn't his spirit in control of it; no, the evil ycher-asi was.  
The ycher-asi then left her hut and went down the mountains to Kumikan's village, and guardian spirits didn't notice her, because she was hidden deep inside the boy's body.

From that day, Kumikan's parents, and his brothers and sisters, and other people in the village saw that his attitude changed. Instead of playing all day and avoiding any work, he became very serious and responsible. He easily passed the trial and got the youth name: Huntu, or the Changed. Everyone was happy with him, and only his mother Ayama was uneasy. Kumikan changed so much, she felt like he wasn't the boy she gave birth to anymore. Before, though he brought he a lot of trouble, she could still tell that he loved her. He used to hug her all the time and tell her she was good mother, and brought her flowers and berries from forest and tundra. But after his return from mountains, he rarely even talked to her, and when he did, it was the same as when he talked to the chieftain, or elders: respectful, but without warmth.  
The elders entrusted Kumikan (now Huntu) with guarding younger children when they went outside of the village to fish or to collect berries, mushrooms and pine nuts. Adults where even more happy that after going with Huntu, kids became just as serious and responsible as him. No one, aside from mothers and close friends, suspected anything, while the evil ycher-asi replaced children's hearts with enchanted items to control their bodies.

But what happened to Kumikan? Oh, he was not dead yet, for his spirit was too strong and wanted to live too much to return to the land of spirits so soon. When the ycher-asi threw his heart into the fireplace, the coals there were too cold to burn it, and when her old, one-eyed, half-starved chocobo came in and tried to bite at it, Kumikan begged, "Please, bird, don't eat me!"  
"Who is it?" The chocobo asked, looking around. "Is it you, the piece of meat?"  
And Kumikan said, "It's my heart. The ycher-asi ripped it out and threw it into the fireplace, but I'm still here."  
Chocobo's stomach grumbled, and he said, "I'm so hungry. Please, let me eat your heart. You will return to the land of spirits anyway, and soon."  
"No, please, don't eat me!" Kumikan begged again. "If you will help me find my body, I'll bring you to my village. There's a lot of tasty food there."  
The bird took the heart in his beak and went to search for the body, but it wasn't in the hut. The only thing he found was a stuffed moogle that looked like white bear with red round nose and small purple wings. The chocobo pecked the toy until he made a hole, and then put Kumikan's heart into it, and the moogle came to life.  
"Thank you," moogle-Kumikan said. "Do you have a name?"  
"No," The bird answered. "The ycher-asi has stolen me from my parents when I was a chick, and only ever swore at me."  
"I will call you Choco," The boy said then. "Let's go to my village. The ycher-asi must have gone there."  
"The mountains are high, and the plains are vast," Choco said. "And I'm so tired and hungry. Go, boy, I'll stay here."  
"My parents will be happy to feed you," Kumikan said.  
The chocobo then said, "Fine, I will help you, but only if you promise to feed me. My legs are long and strong, so sit on my back, I will carry you."

Kumikan flapped his tiny wings and flew up to Choco's back, and they began to walk back through the mountains.  
One day passed, and two, and three, and a whole week, but mountains weren't ending. On the twelfth day, the chocobo said, "I'm tired and hungry. How much longer until your village?"  
"I don't know," Kumikan said. "I thought it was not very far away."  
They found a small stream with a patch of grass and crowberries, and stopped to rest. While the chocobo ate, Kumikan flew up to look, how far it was to mountains' end.  
"I cannot see anything except for mountain peaks," He said. "Not even the ocean."  
They went on their way again, but after another twelve days, Kumikan still could not see neither plains nor the ocean.  
Choco thought about it while eating mushrooms and soft moss, and then said, "It must be ycher-asi's witchery, a trap that prevents us from leaving the mountains."  
"But how can we break free from it?" The boy asked.  
The bird thought a while longer, and then said, "Don't look at the sky or at the ground. Close your eyes and guide me where your heart leads you."  
And so they did. Kumikan told Choco where to go, and he went there, even if there was no visible way ahead. They went through what seemed a solid stone but was only a mirage, they went on the invisible bridges that stretched high above the deep chasms, and though Choco was scared, he trusted Kumikan and went where he led him.

Long or short was their path, but finally it ended in the plains to the south of Northern Mountains. Tired, they stopped and rested for a day, and then went farther to southeast, to the river Surinda, where the village stood.

When Kumikan and Choco entered the village, they that saw most of the people were gathered beside the bonfire. Kumikan saw his parents, chieftain and elders, and in front of them he saw himself - or what looked like his old body.  
"Hey!" He shouted. "It's not me! Here am I, Kumikan!"  
The elders looked at them, and the chieftain said, "What are you saying, moogle?"  
Kumikan said, "I say that this boy who looks like me is not me, it is ycher-asi's golem!"  
"You are lying!" Huntu the Changed said. "It must be you who is ycher-asi's golem!"  
"Our guardian spirits would see her witchery," Kumikan's father said. "Go away, ycher-asi's servant, and leave us in peace!"  
"No, Father!" The moogle-boy said, "It's really me! Mother, do you remember the winflowers I brought you a day before I went to the mountains?"  
Ayama took a step forward and exclaimed, "It is you, my son!" And Huntu the Changed looked at her with such hate in his eyes that Kumikan was afraid for his mother's life.  
"Go, Choco!" He shouted, and they lunged at Huntu. The chocobo hit him and kicked him, and the ycher-asi's puppet fell to the ground, but instantly got up again.  
"Enough of your witchery!" Kumikan's father shouted, and fired an arrow at the moogle, and hit him directly in the heart.  
The moogle fell down to the ground, and in the same moment Huntu dropped, and his body turned into a stinking pile of rotten flesh, and everyone understood that he was long dead. Out of his chest, the ycher-asi climbed, in guise of a black snake with purple stripes, and tried to crawl away, but Salameh the smith stomped on its head and crushed it. Then the ycher-asi turned into a black bird Kirin (A mythical magpie-like bird, but completely black; was believed to bring bad luck, cold winters, plagues and bad harvests. - M.) and tried to fly away, but Kumikan's mother shoot it. Then the ycher-asi turned into a black rat, but Kumikan's dog bit its head off. Then the ycher-asi turned into a swarm of midges, and though all people tried to kill as many midges as they could, most of them escaped and flew to the mountains.

When the people of the village looked around, they saw that the children that went with Huntu outside the village were also dead. The mothers began to cry, and the fathers began to cry, and Kumikan's mother Ayama took the toy moogle in her hands and cried over it too. Choco cried with her, but when he bowed his head, he heard Kumikan's voice: "Don't cry, friend, and tell Mother not to cry. I'm still here, only I can't move."  
Choco told her that, and she said, "Thank you, good bird. Please rest in my house, and let me feed you. You look half-starved."  
She gave the chocobo food and let him rest, and went to the village shaman and asked him how to help her son. The shaman lit his enchanted fire, and took his enchanted drum, and talked to the spirits, and then said, "Go to the old village on the other side of eastern mountains. There the samans live who can talk not only to lesser spirits, but to Eneen Dunneh (Mother Gaia - M.) herself, they will help him."

She wanted to head out right then, but Choco asked her to wait. "I want to go with you," He said. "Kumikan is my only friend, and I'm the only one who still can hear him."  
After Choco rested, they went out of the village and crossed the river Surinda, and went to the mountains on the other side. Ayama was riding her grey reindeer, and Choco ran beside. Long was their road, and the ground became steeper and steeper, until the reindeer could not climb it anymore. She then took her charm that warded off wolves and bandersnatches and tied it to reindeer's ear, and told him, "Thank you for bringing me here. Now return to the village."  
The reindeer ran away, and Choco told Ayama to sit on his back, and then they began to climb up the mountain slopes. Up and up they went, to the highest places where no wingless creature could go, where only the best of chocobos could climb. Choco was tired, but didn't stop, in a hurry to help his friend.  
Finally they reached the summit and began to climb down, and again, Choco went on and on despite his fatigue and hunger. When they reached the more level ground, the bird fell, exhausted.  
"I cannot go farther," He said. "But it's not very far away now. You can go on foot. Farewell, Ayama. Take care, Kumikan."  
With that, he closed his eyes and died.

Crying, Ayama covered chocobo's body with heavy stones to prevent it from being eaten by mountain wolves, and continued her travel. For days upon days she went, her fur boots have torn, and her feet were hurt on sharp stones and bloodied, but she didn't stop.  
Al last she saw the old village the shaman talked about. It looked like no other village did, with large houses and bright lights. Samans met her and asked what brought her to them, and she told them her story.  
The samans examined the toy moogle, and one of them said, "We cannot revive him. But his spirit and his will to live and to protect his loved ones were so strong that he did not go to the land of spirits." Then he opened the toy's chest and Ayama saw a red, round, glowing orb in the place where Kumikan's heart had been.  
"This is the Sky Gem that hosts your son's soul, and not only his, but his friend's soul as well. Call him, and he will come to you," The saman said. "But he cannot stay for long, for he doesn't belong to the world of living beings anymore."

Ayama stayed with the samans until she was rested and her feet healed, and then they gave her a strong black chocobo that took her back to her village. When she was back at home, she took the red Sky Gem out of her bag and called, "Kumikan, come to me."  
The orb glowed and disappeared, and instead of it, her son appeared, but in his moogle body, sitting on Choco's back.  
There was a lot of laughter and tears of joy while they greeted and hugged each others, and when they calmed down, Ayama asked her son, "Why do you look like moogle?"  
The moogle-boy shrugged. "Maybe I got used to it," He said. "Do you mind?"  
She said, "Be who you want to be, son. I love you in any shape."

Churindari is long frozen, but they say that sometimes you can see the yellow chocobo and a moogle crossing the plains to the west of now-frozen Surinda. They say that where they go, winflowers grow up from under the snow, and who picks these flowers becomes very lucky for all the time until the flowers have wilted.

_(From “The tales of North”, Evan Marius, 1932)_

* * *

"So, here we really have Cetra. A whole village of them, even."  
"Yes, Grim, I think so too. These adepts of Mother Gaia could be only Cetra."  
"But what about the location? It's not in the Northern mountains, this time."  
"Well, let's look. Over the mountains to the east of Surinda... Somewhere in the Sleeping forest, maybe?"  
"Where else they could live, naturally. Only somewhere no one else could reach."  
"Returning to the Northern mountains, we, again, have a magical humanoid creature that lived there."  
"Evil creature, Gast. Do you think the local people could see a Cetra like _this_?"  
"Who knows? Probably, there were conflicts between them. Nobody said that Cetra were complete pacifists."


End file.
